Rescue ducks herded to the water’s edge: hilarity and happiness ensue

You’ve surely heard the expression “takes like a duck to water.” It really is true, even for ducks who are being introduced to the water for the first time in their lives!

An animal hoarder in Upstate New York managed to accumulate over 100 birds. Among them were about two dozen ducks being kept in a pen and suffering from poor nutrition, exposure, and general lack of care. These unfortunate ducks had never set foot in the water! When the folks at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary found out about this, they decided they had to do something. They got in touch with the hoarder and their conversations with her seemed to go well at first. But although they made it clear they understood she cared about her birds, there was no convincing her that she simply wasn’t able to take care of them. With backing from the local SPCA, Woodstock Farm was able to persuade a judge to order that the birds be handed over.

After a successful rescue operation, the ducks were brought to the sanctuary, where they got much-needed attention from a veterinarian. Then the shelter staff made sure the ducks had plenty of decent food, nutritional supplements and water with added vitamins. The ASPCA provided a grant, which went a long way toward covering all the expenses. Once the ducks were nursed back to health, the plan was to integrate them into a flock that was already in residence at the sanctuary.

As you’ll see in the video posted below, when the ducks were let out of their enclosure and herded toward the pond, there were some humorous moments. One staffer quipped, “I saw a Benny Hill episode that was just like this.” Once they were at the water’s edge, some of the ducks needed more persuasion than others, but they all got the idea: ducks belong in the water.